Florida homes filled with feet of sand carried in from Hurricane Milton's storm surge
A gauge along the nearby Caloosahatchee River shows the area had storm surge just over 5 feet, which brought saltwater and sand into many homes.
Milton fills Florida homes with sand after storm surge overtakes coastal towns
Residents of Bonita Springs, Florida, are in the initial stages of cleaning up in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on the Sunshine State on Wednesday night.
BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – Residents of Bonita Springs, Florida, are coming home to find their homes and neighborhoods buried under feet of sand – an unwanted parting gift from the Gulf of Mexico's storm surge at the hands of Hurricane Milton.
A gauge along the nearby Caloosahatchee River shows the area had storm surge just over 5 feet, which brought saltwater and sand into many neighborhoods.
Roads in Bonita Springs were closed off due to sand making them impassable. (Brandy Campbell / FOX Weather)
FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell showed homes with now up to 3 to 4 feet of sand piled up inside, along with roads covered in feet of sand and seashells.
Residents and contractors hoping to begin repairs have to walk into the neighborhoods instead of driving in.
Campbell walks over a pile of sand inside a Bonita Springs home. (Brandy Campbell / FOX Weather)
"It's something you don't always think about," Campbell said. "You think about a storm surge. You think about the water coming in, but you don't always think about what's left behind once the water goes back."
She spoke with Calusa Construction contractor Scott Roshak about his team’s efforts to clean up the neighborhood, particularly as they cleaned up the area after storm surge from Hurricane Helene inundated the area two weeks ago.
Sand in the home. (Brandy Campbell / FOX Weather)
"We just ended up cleaning this (house) out, finishing it up earlier this week, everything was completed," Roshak said. "The driveway was cleared down to the pavers. And now we have another 3 to 4 feet of sand to clear out of the entire horseshoe driveway. And now another 3 or 4 feet of sand that was in the garage now… lots of guys with hard labor – shovels and wheelbarrows."
But with predictions of as much as 12 feet of storm surge; Roshak realizes it could have been worse.
"In a roundabout way, it’s… thankful that nothing worse happened," he said.